App Store vs Play: Apple Delivers 2X Revenues with Fewer Downloads

Whenever Android fans want to fight, which is often, unit volume always gets dragged out as the ultimate measure of mobile platform dominance. Nevertheless, it is well established that although more Android phones ship, Apple’s iPhone dominates revenue and profit. But does the same hold true in the competition between Google Play and Apple’s App Store? Apparently, it does and in spades.

Follow the money, the only measure of unit volume that really matters.

App Annie has published a new report, Game of Phones (image below), that details the simple and telling metrics of mobile app dominance and the winner isn’t Google’s Play Android marketplace.

“It’s very clear from the data and from developer feedback that Google Play is still playing catch-up in the revenue game,” writes App Annie. “iOS global revenue across 35 comparable countries outperforms Google Play by a factor of 71 to 29. Whilst Android wins the war in handset penetration, this has not yet translated to revenues generated for Google Play.”

Again, like in smartphone device revenues, the iPhone and iOS dominate the app space, delivering more than twice the revenue on fewer units…